Fundamental Exercises in Joint Coping with Loss
by vainhopes
Summary: Just one more post 5x03 Jeff/Annie fic. Has spoilers for Intergluteal Numismatics, as well as Re-Pilot and Introduction to Teaching (The first three episodes of season 5, anyway.) Also features Britta, and mentions of Pierce. One-shot.


Pairing: Jeff/Annie (Though with assists from Britta and a post-mortem Pierce)  
Spoilers: Through 5x03: Intergluteal Numismatics  
Word Count: 4,408  
Rating: PG-13 (language, though honestly...I'm trying to keep all language and content to the level you could see on the show itself. I have no problems with anything less restricted by network TV standards...it just feels more to me like the show while I'm writing it if I stick to that. So...naughty words and such will be pretty mild.)  
Disclaimer: If I owned Community, you'd all probably absolutely hate it.

A/N: This episode poked at my sorry excuse for "feelings" and a "soul" enough that I wanted to take a quick break from Three Months Later to follow it up before the next episode hit and made it so impossible for me to conceive of things happening like this. Extended A/N after the story.

* * *

"You want another?"

"No…this is good for now."

After Annie refused Britta's offer of a refill, she nodded, and grabbed a rag from under the bar to start wiping the counter down, as she'd been led to believe was the duty of a good bartender by movies, TV, and Abed. That, and she didn't really feel like doing much. The sudden news of the loss of Pierce was weighing heavily on all of them.

Britta took a moment to give this some thought. Most of the time, she didn't even really like Pierce. He was racist, sexist, elitist, and generally a prick…but he was one of them, dammit. Still, Britta knew she had to put aside her own internal turmoil, and channel another aspect of what Abed had described to her as "The Essential Bartender;" That of the listening ear, and shoulder upon which patrons could cry.

Britta assumed the last part wasn't literal, because it'd be totally weird to have strange men crying on her, but she'd at least listen to them …especially if it increased her tips. As far as Annie went? Well, Annie could really cry on her shoulder if she needed to. This was not just part of bartending, but Britta saw it as her sacred duty as a mental health professional (to be.)

"You doing ok, sweetie?" she asked a despondent looking Annie, trying to use the sweetest tone she could convey with sincerity.

Annie didn't look up, but nodded, eyes fixed on her glass.

"It's quiet tonight."

"Yeah, Tuesdays are our big night. But you seem like you'd rather have a low-key atmosphere right now anyway."

"Yeah. I mean, obviously the whole Pierce thing's got me. I know he was old and all…but, I guess I just didn't expect us to lose a member of our little family like this."

Annie's voice trailed off as she shrugged at her confusion by life's seeming capriciousness. Britta reached over the bar, and put her hand over Annie's clasped pair.

"Hey, Annie…Pierce led a very, very full life. You've got to keep going with yours."

Annie nodded. Britta's advice was cliché, but for a good reason…it was sound enough that it had been repeated endlessly throughout the ages.

"Besides, you can always remember that you were his favorite. Jeff was the closest thing you had to competition for Pierce's twisted affection, and that was really more of a love/hate thing."

Seeing Annie perk up at the mention of Jeff…God, could she be any more predictable? Britta decided to take a poke at the issue, and see what was there.

"So…while we're on that topic, what's been happening between you and Professor Winger, anyway? I won't lie…sometimes the heat coming off of you two is enough to warm up a room that's cold…for some reason. Like cause someone didn't pay the heating bill, or because the radiator…something."

Now Annie definitely perked up, but Britta also sensed some defenses going up too. She gave Britta an odd look when she was rambling about the cold room, but mostly seemed to ignore it.

"According to Jeff, nothing beyond platonic friendship." Annie grumped.

"I'm guessing from your tone that 'according to Jeff' isn't the full story here."

"Well, I've definitely gotten non-platonic vibes from him, and the Dean said there was something creepy between us and called us unprofessional. Even the Bandit said we should get a room, and were only chasing them because it gave us an excuse to do stuff together."

Britta's eyes grew wide and she surpressed a smile as best she could.

"Wait…'the Bandit?' do you mean the Ass Crack Bandit? You talked to him?"

"We mostly listened in while the Dean talked to him, but really, how humiliating is that apparently the whole school, including someone dropping quarters down people's pants, thinks we need to stop kidding ourselves…and the Dean had the nerve to call _us_ creepy. The guy who fondles Jeff every chance he can."

Britta nodded, and thought for a moment before asking her next question. "Ok, Annie…you've mentioned what Jeff's said about you two, and what the Dean and the ACB said, but you haven't mentioned how you feel about what's up with you and that arrogant loser."

Annie gave Britta an eyeroll as she insulted Jeff, making Britta jump with glee inside, having successfully pulled off what she was counting as a major psychological trick to test her friend.

"I don't know…I just, still have feelings for him. I know he's better than he likes to play it off that he is, but that he isn't perfect, and…I just like being with him, and doing stuff with him. I guess it's just silly."

Britta smiled at Annie. "It isn't silly, and you shouldn't feel like it is. I mean, c'mon, Annie. When I called Jeff an arrogant loser, you rolled your eyes!"

Annie looked bewildered. "So?"

"You rolled your eyes!"

"So what? I roll my eyes at things all the time."

Britta frowned, crossing her arms across her chest. "Fine, if you don't see it, then don't worry about it."

Annie nodded, seemingly returning to her funk. The topic never came back to her and Jeff, and when Britta's shift ended about half an hour later, Annie left the bar with her, but bid her goodbye in the parking lot. That was fine with Britta, she had other plans.

About ten minutes later, Jeff heard a knock on his apartment door. He set down his scotch (replenishing his supplies, even if it was with an inferior brand, was one of his first purchases once he started getting paid by Greendale,) and cinched his bathrobe as he walked to the door to answer it.

Standing on the other side, was Britta. Jeff sighed heavily.

"I'm sorry, it's after 8:00 pm. I'm not currently having office hours, Greendale student." He said as he made to close the door, but Britta stuck her foot in the way, preventing him from closing it.

"Then it's a good thing I'm not in your class, Professor Forehead." She sniped back at him, and pushed her way past into his apartment. He finished closing the door, and turned to follow her.

"Britta, I should let you know now, we're not going back to the arrangement we had our second year."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It means, that, despite the fact that I'm incredibly good looking, and we've all suffered a semi-tragic loss recently, I'm sorry, but I'm not tossing you a courtesy lay."

Britta's face screwed up in disgust. "Have I ever mentioned how incredibly gross you are? I'm not here for sex, loser, and even if I was, it wouldn't be from you."

"Then you wouldn't be here, would you?"

Britta was caught off guard by this logic, but regained her feet quickly. "Irrelevant!"

"Overturned! Completely relevant, but seriously, Britta, what the hell do you want?"

"What's going on with you and Annie?!"

Jeff turned to face her directly at this question. "Oh my god, Britta, are you jealous?"

"No, not at all. It's just…Jeff…she's hurting with Pierce gone, and with you constantly stringing her along. Everyone sees that there's something between you two…but nothing ever comes of it, and it certainly isn't because she isn't interested!"

Jeff closed his eyes as if he had a sudden headache coming on.

"Look. Britta. I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Annie. The same thing I told the Dean. The same damned thing I told the Ass Crack Bandit, who, somehow, out of that list is the last one I should have to be justifying my behavior to! We are friends. I care a lot about Annie, but it's platonic, ok?"

Britta nodded. "Yeah, ok. I guess it really is just a schoolgirl crush, huh?" she said, carefully watching for Jeff's response. She wasn't disappointed.

"Yeah, sure, whatever." He said, rolling his eyes.

"I mean, you help her out a lot, but I guess that you do that for all of your friends, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do."

Britta pursed her lips in thought before continuing. "Like, how you fought that bully for Abed our first year, or put together that Pulp Fiction birthday party for him."

Jeff smiled, thinking back on those memories. "Well, yeah…but come on, I love Abed. Why wouldn't I do that stuff?"

Britta shook her head. "No reason. Just examples of you helping your friends. Like how you were willing to suppress your disdain for marriage to give a toast, which you totally botched, by the way, at Shirley's wedding."

Jeff winced. "Yeah, I screwed that one up pretty bad, didn't I? But I had to try…I mean, I love Shirley."

"Of course you do. Everyone does. And Troy…how about how you jumped straight into taking him out when you realized it was his twenty-first birthday?"

"Well, come on…it was his twenty-first. I love Troy, of course I'm going to take care of him on a special occasion."

"No, no. I totally get it. I mean, even with me…you dropped everything to defend me back when I cheated on that Spanish test, and you got completely wasted to try to make me feel better after that drunk dial message."

Jeff smirked, "Yes, Britta…in our own weird little way, I even love you. Don't ever quote me on it though."

"Oh, don't worry, I wouldn't dream of it. And who could forget the time you passed up sex with Slater in order to save Pierce from that desk fort he built."

Jeff's smile grew faint and his gaze grew distant. "Yeah…I guess I even loved Pierce. He was a horrible, horrible man, but he was one of a kind. And let's face it, he was _our_ horrible, horrible man."

Britta nodded, "All totally true. Pierce was special. But man, I mean, that leaves Annie. Look at everything you've done for her. The debate, Model UN, running off to Chang's office to save her, going in her place when Pierce was in the hospital screwing with our heads, hell…even the whole Ass Crack Bandit thing."

Jeff's smile grew stronger. "Well, I mean, what do I say? Annie's the best."

"Ah hah!" Britta shouted, pointing a finger at Jeff's bewildered face.

"Ah hah what, exactly, you goon?"

"Britta stood and started stalking around the couch, all the while keeping an accusatory finger pointed at Jeff. "I just went through every other member of our group, and with every one of them, even me and Pierce, you said you loved us. But when I got to Annie, you didn't. You just said that she's the best!"

Jeff blinked as if in disbelief. "And?"

"And you rolled your eyes when I said Annie's thing for you was just a crush!"

"AND?!"

"Annie rolled her eyes when I insulted you earlier too!"

"Britta, I know this is a dumb question, given that you work at a bar, but have you been drinking?"

Britta sat back down, and gave Jeff a steely glare. "Listen and listen good, Winger. You can say you love any one of us because it's easy. There's nothing on the line. We're a family, and you know that, as much as you resisted it at first. But with Annie…you can't say it because suddenly there's something on the line there. Because it has more meaning with her. You're too scared to open up like that. You've gotten better over the years, but that'd just be too much openness and being a real human for you."

Jeff sat back, regarding Britta with wide eyes silently. She took that as her cue to continue.

"Well, guess what, Jeff? Time to sack up, because it's getting pretty damn old for the rest of us, so I can only imagine it's getting old for you and Annie too. She's a grown woman, and you're an overgrown boy, so I can only imagine that you can meet somewhere in the middle and figure out what the hell you want to do!"

Britta flopped back on the couch, folding her arms, apparently satisfied in her chastisement of Jeff, but fired one final salvo.

"I'm not telling you to get together with her, Jeff. I'm not telling you to marry her, or declare your undying love for her. I'm just telling you that you two need to figure it out together."

Jeff just silently glared at Britta, but was interrupted by a timely knock on the door. He threw his hands in the air as he stood to go answer.

"What could it be now?!"

He opened the door, and Britta couldn't see who was on the other side, but she could hear the conversation if she strained. She heard Jeff's soft, "Hey," followed by an equally soft "Hey" from Annie, who only left a second before grabbing control of the conversation.

"Sorry to show up suddenly like this, but I needed to see you."

What happened next was a shock even to Britta.

"No, don't worry about it. Come on in."

Jeff was not only letting Annie in, but didn't give her the first note of complaint over her intrusion in his off-campus life. Suddenly Britta realized that with Jeff in a bathrobe, and the weird personal history between herself, Jeff, and Annie…this was one of the worst possible situations they could find themselves in. Still, she was paralyzed by uncertainty as she heard Annie's footsteps as she entered the apartment. She then heard Annie's sudden intake of breath, not quite a gasp, but definitely shocked.

"Britta?"

The blond woman stood and turned, giving her friend a sheepish smile as she walked her way. Annie's face was open and curious, hair tied back in a simple ponytail, and her normal prim and proper day attire exchanged for comfortable sweats.

"Oh, hey, Annie! I think this is my cue to make myself very, very scarce!"

As she passed by the younger woman, she slowed slightly, and quietly said to "This isn't at _all_ what it looks like it could be. Please believe me there." Annie just nodded with some confusion in her eyes, but no hurt or anger, which made Britta feel ok about moving on towards the door. When she got there, she looked up at Jeff, who had remained stationed by the door as soon as she said she was leaving, and poked at his chest.

"Deal with this!" she hissed loud enough that he would hear it, but Annie wouldn't. He didn't react, but quietly closed the door as she left.

Jeff wandered back over to the couch, where Britta had so recently sat, now replaced by Annie, and inwardly chuckled about the bizarre state of his life recently. Annie was very obviously craning her neck to take in Jeff's apartment, now rather more bare than the last time she had been there.

"Your practice not doing well really hit you hard, didn't it?" she asked quietly. That was his Annie, all right…always concerned about others first.

"Yeah, Annie, it did, but come on. That's not why you're here." Jeff stated bluntly, but kindly, and watched Annie's face fall, and her beautiful eyes cloud with tears. As she spoke, her lip trembled.

"It was just so sudden. You and I were out chasing some idiot who puts change in people's pants like it was the biggest deal ever, and then poof! Shirley tells us about Pierce, and everything comes to a screeching halt."

Jeff on an impulse, reached over, and pulled Annie in to his arms. She didn't flinch or resist at all, but instead seemed to mold herself to him as he leaned back into the couch, and stroked her hair.

"And you know the worst part about it? It was like all of the sudden, everything that had seemed so important was meaningless!"

Jeff didn't say anything, but just rubbed her back, trying his best to be comforting in the only way he knew how, and allowed Annie to keep talking in between muted sniffles.

"I know he was manipulative, and cruel, and mean sometimes, but I don't think he was bad…we all have our crappy parts of us. And since my parents decided they didn't want anything to do with me…well, Jeff, he was really the closest thing I had to a family!"

Jeff without thinking, pressed his lips to the crown of her head, and held her all the tighter. She had her arms wrapped firmly around him, and Jeff could feel some of her tension release as he kissed her hair. She didn't get up, but she seemed to relax a little.

"Hey, Annie…just remember. You were his favorite. He made absolutely no secret about that."

Annie pulled her head up, and looked up at him through a sad smile.

"Yeah, but he thought of you like a son, or like a younger version of himself."

Jeff quirked one side of his mouth upward, "If we weren't in the middle of mourning him and grieving, I might get really upset at you reminding me about that."

Annie adjusted her body so she wasn't laying on Jeff's chest anymore, but sitting on his lap, with an arm around his neck for support. Jeff naturally felt his arms rise to hold Annie's back, and wondered when his body had stopped listening to his normally cautious and careful brain. Annie's hand reached out to stroke Jeff's face gently.

"He just wanted to be a part of a family, and you were the coolest guy in school. Why wouldn't he want to be close to you? Remember how he paid Britta to switch cards with him so you guys could do that Spanish assignment together?"

"God…yes. After I'd bribed Abed to switch with me so I could do it with Britta. Talk about a fiasco. I still miss that shirt. But what about him nearly killing himself with paint fumes when he tried to fix up your apartment during your move?" Jeff hadn't been there, but he'd gotten the entire story later, in between mocking renditions of his karaoke performance. Annie giggled at the memory.

"Or him trying to teach you to fight so you could defend Abed?"

"Old bastard punched me in the nose after the real fight was over. I swear…my face gets more punishment from inside the group than it does from outside. How about when he guilted you into giving him a bigger part in your dumb anti-drug play?"

Annie laughed even harder than she had before, ducking her head and leaning against Jeff's neck as she did so. Her laughter was contagious, and Jeff found himself laughing too. They both spent some time bouncing some of their favorite memories back and forth, and finding catharsis in each other's company. Jeff couldn't help but keep remembering something that Annie had no knowledge of. Some advice that Pierce had given him unasked. Back when he gave it, Jeff's priorities were in very different places, as were his attractions. But now? He realized that since the group had first convened, everyone in it had changed. He wasn't as bad as he used to be, and Annie wasn't as young as she was. She wasn't a kid anymore, and Pierce's advice was never more true than it was now.

Annie seemed to be thinking along at least similar lines, because when she spoke, Jeff realized that they'd both fallen silent for at least half a minute, just staring at each other, and holding each other. Half a minute sounded like a brief time, but in this situation, with people with his and Annie's history, it felt like an eternity. Her words didn't help.

"This isn't just platonic, is it, Jeff?"

"Annie…"

"No, Jeff…come on. No more face saving. No more protecting and guarding yourself. I haven't consciously been waiting on you or anything, but at the same time…I'm just about ready to move onto the next stage of life. So, come on Jeff, just give me an answer."

"Look, I'm not good with feelings, you know that. And this is a really, really bad time. We're both emotional, and I think we need to be…in a better spot before we make any big decisions, ok?"

Annie nodded, and Jeff felt her release her arms around his neck, and start to stand. Jeff realized his words hadn't been taken how he meant them, and quickly grabbed her hand.

"What is it, Jeff?"

"Annie…I wasn't saying, what I think you think I was saying. I was just saying, let's take things slow, ok? But you, and Pierce were both right. This is the sort of thing you can't knock out at the end."

Annie slowly nodded. "I can give you medium-slow. Final offer."

Jeff grinned. "Ok, medium-slow is good."

"So, how do we define medium-slow, Jeff?"

Jeff stood, matching Annie's new stance, and stretched. "Tomorrow, Annie. We don't even start defining it until tomorrow." He reclaimed her hand, and started pulling her towards the bedroom, which she followed with only some minor resistance.

"Jeff…what are you doing?"

"Going to bed," he stated matter-of-factly. Annie's eyes bulged. "That hardly seems medium-slow to me!"

"Annie, despite my reputation, I DO sleep in my bed as well as use it for other activities. I don't want to be alone tonight, and I don't think you want to be alone tonight, and I don't want you to have to be alone tonight. We're big kids…we can share a bed without things being awkward, and without completely surrendering to our base carnal impulses, can't we?"

Annie smiled. "I dunno…after all, man is evil, right?"

Jeff shook his head chuckling, and proceeded to get ready for bed, and get them both situated. The next morning, as sad as he still was about their loss, and as weird as the circumstances were that were causing him and Annie to give things a chance, Jeff realized that he'd held a woman through the night, and they hadn't even kissed in years. He also realized that having Annie be the last thing he saw as he felt asleep and the first thing he saw as he woke up made him incredibly happy.

He didn't know if they'd last, or even move forward much, or if they'd just remain good friends, or if this would make their friendship too awkward to even continue…but he was done trying to avoid it all. Life was too short. As he held Annie, who hadn't woken up yet, he silently thanked Pierce for his friendship, advice, and guidance. He couldn't help but toss in a few mental snarks about his less pleasant attributes, but overall, he was feeling pretty charitable towards his older friend.

He'd have to pay a visit to the barbershop in Pierce's memory soon.

A/N: Ok…I've never done one of these before, and I don't think I ever will again. Post-ep fics are not my thing, I'm thinking, but I found Intergluteal Numismatics far more enjoyable than expected, and actually fairly moving. As a shipper, I loved the J/A in it, and I loved that they're actually starting to address things (much to Jeff's chagrin,) and I found the announcement at the end incredibly poignant, because that's how it goes. Things are sudden. We lost my brother-in-law back in Sept, and I remember my wife and I were driving to my parents house to pick up our kids, and my wife got a call from her brother's ex-wife, letting her know that 'something' was happening at her parent's house. Not only that, but her parents were in Hawai'i, so…yeah, death happens when you don't expect it, and you're in the middle of other things.

My purpose here…I'm a huge fan of Jeff/Annie, and obviously want to see them together, but I also wanted to keep Pierce's passing a central part of this story. I really feel like I let J/A overshadow Pierce's contribution, but this was an experiment anyway. I also wanted to make sure to give Britta her due in this, and not only use her as a plot device. I hope I managed to treat her with appropriate respect. I really like the friendship between Jeff and Britta, and between Britta and Annie, and I wanted to use that dynamic to propel the two together, because I think Britta is just wily like that.

As much as I was tempted to, I didn't want to suddenly make Jeff and Annie decide that they're together. They take a step forward here, but I pray that I managed to capture Jeff's hesitance and reluctance to throw caution to the wind. Given that a "Happily Ever After" is my default end to a story, and I like things tied up in neat little packages, this was tough for me to both do what I felt was appropriate, and also satisfying to my own…desires. I write because I enjoy it, and if I don't like what I write, what's the point? Ultimately, this was a really tough story to put an end on.

Again, I don't know think that I'll be doing post-ep fics in the future, because I just feel a bit more freedom with my 'own' stories. I really try to keep myself from falling into using what I think of as "Jeff/Annie tropes" when I write. I try not to use the phrases 'Disney eyes,' or 'Disney face,' and I think in the hundred thousand plus words I've written so far (As of the completion of 360 Degree Revolutions and the first seven chapters of Three Months Later,) I've had Jeff and Annie use the full 'Milady/Milord' exchange once, MAYBE twice, and had Jeff use just his half one time beyond that. But when I'm writing a post-ep…thing, I found those much, much harder to not fall into using. That's not to say that it's bad to use them, I just personally want to avoid them in my own writing.

Anyway, as usual, my notes are going to drag on as long as the story itself. I hope that the rest of the J/A fandom found this episode as enjoyable as I did. The production values were incredible, and we should be thankful that even though we still don't have a resolution…on-screen acknowledgement like we got is huge for this ship, especially on this show. This ep has already reached my list of favorites.

As always, questions/comments are welcome here, as well as my tumblr.


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